I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones. – George Orwell 1984. Part 2, Chapter 2. Winston is not concerned about the number of sexual partners Julia has had, he is attracted by her rebelliousness against the Party.
You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek o’ the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men That do corrupt my air, – I banish you. – William Shakespeare Coriolanus, Act 3, Scene 3.
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. – George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman, Maxims for Revolutionists.
This is what happened to me when I received the governorship. The corrupt previous governor didn’t do the handover. We received the Miranda governorship completely dismantled. – Henrique Capriles Radonski
There are 13 stories in ‘The Fencepost Chronicles’ about corrupt tribal leaders, trouble on the reserve, survival schemes, and communal drinking. – Gerald Vizenor
It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. – James Monroe
Party leads to vicious, corrupt and unprofitable legislation, for the sole purpose of defeating party. – James F. Cooper
The Medicare Part D prescription drug bill, which might be the most corrupt piece of legislation in history, was a huge giveaway of taxpayer funds to the big pharmaceutical companies. – Al Franken
There is militaristic-hegemonic-plutocratic side of the U.S. which is getting out of hand and threatens to corrupt the whole republic. I remain a deeply concerned, committed admirer, but also a very worried one. – Alain de Botton
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. – The Bible Matthew 6:19-20
I’m Dan Gelber. As a federal prosecutor, I helped put away corporate criminals, corrupt politicians and violent gangs. – Dan Gelber
By incentivizing Wall Street players to sniff out inefficient or corrupt companies and bet against them, short-selling acts as a sort of policing system; legal short-sellers have been instrumental in helping expose firms like Enron and WorldCom. – Matt Taibbi
The proximate cause of Iraq’s unraveling was the increasing authoritarian, sectarian, and corrupt conduct of the Iraqi government and its leader after the departure of the last U.S. combat forces in 2011. – David Petraeus
Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. – George Bernard Shaw
We are pleased to dismiss politics as entirely corrupt, if not financially, intellectually. – Gore Vidal
If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it’s fixed. – David Hackworth
Writing is sacred, other activities are profane, and I don’t want them to corrupt my writing. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I felt Nigeria didn’t have to succumb to the image of being a corrupt country; we didn’t have to let the economy stagnate. – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. – The Bible Daniel 6:4
Behavior which appears superficially correct but is intrinsically corrupt always irritates those who see below the surface. – James Bryant Conant
The novel is a highly corrupt medium, after all – in the end the vast majority of them simply aren’t that great, and are destined to be forgotten. – Lev Grossman
Democratic accountability means that governments must be popularly accepted, with citizens empowered to replace corrupt or incompetent rulers. – Raghuram Rajan